


Awakening

by Matloc



Series: The emperor's return [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akakuro - Freeform, Gen, Hardly Any Romance, M/M, Mildly OOC, Winter Cup, can be read platonically, oreshi - Freeform, possible spoilers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 18:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3421460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matloc/pseuds/Matloc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko should have been feeling on top of the world right now, having just won the Winter Cup. But what he's feeling is entirely unrelated to their match and irritatingly enough, Akashi's the cause for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven’t written anything in the past 10 billion years and I hate myself for it, plus I just finished catching up to KnB so this stupid thing came out. Sorry my writing style’s devolved into a shitty vapid mess with robotic-sounding descriptions and I probably didn’t do my OTP justice with this assfic but pls forgive this piece of trash writer anyway thankies (　´∀｀)
> 
> Here's how Q275 really went in my yaoi-infested delusions. Enjoy!

** The Awakening **

 

_00:02…_

_00:01…_

_00:00_

The entire stadium erupted into cheers and it was all Kuroko could do to remain standing as he drowned in the deafening excitement that filled the area. In contrast to the animated crowd above, the people inside the orange court stood still, as if time had frozen the moment Kagami dunked the ball. All of their bodies both physically and mentally overworked, the vestiges of their adrenaline rush left them stuck in a daze and they couldn’t seem to process what just happened.

That bewilderment lasted only for a moment, though, before Kuroko’s team broke out into a collective cry of victory that harmonized with the audience’s fulminating ovation. His cheeks started to hurt from the wide grin splitting his face but Kuroko didn’t even notice as he looked back onto his teammates, eyes travelling to and from each member and he knew he wasn’t alone in this moment. From start to finish, every single one on the team, including their coach, had his back.

He watched Kagami and the others rush about with tears in their eyes, so overwhelmed with emotions – and he could tell because he was feeling the same multitude of sentiments that had evoked a burning sensation behind his eyes and clogged his throat.

This very moment cemented the fact that they were really all in this together. The one moment that the boy had been longing for since forever, chasing relentlessly since middle school and here he was: his endeavors paid off and he finally found what he was looking for.

 Kuroko Tetsuya was one with his team. _We_ did it. _We_ won. _Together._

The very second that realization set in was when the exhaustion caught up to his body, which he had clearly pushed way beyond his limits. Kuroko didn’t care though, not now. His torn muscles seemed to disagree however when he started stumbling while the rest of Seirin began rushing towards him to drag him into the celebration.

It was Akashi Seijūrō who caught him first.

A hand wrapped around Kuroko’s wrist and steadied him. He looked back to see Rakuzan’s captain, his former captain, gazing at him with a look that made the shorter boy feel… perplexed.

“Akashi-kun?” he breathed.

“Kuroko.” The voice was gentle, and Kuroko instantly felt his body relax.

Ah. This _was_ Akashi-kun. The Akashi-kun he met in middle school. The one who made Kuroko what he was now.

“It was your… no, it’s your team’s win.” Just a little while ago, Kuroko would have said that such words were impossible for someone like Akashi Seijūrō to utter. The one standing before him was Akashi-kun, though. The kind and compassionate captain that he feared he’d never see again.

At that moment, Kuroko felt an entirely different sort of emotion sting his eyes. “Akashi-kun,” his voice was heavy with a myriad of unsaid thoughts from the past but all he could muster right now was a croak, “Welcome back.”

The redhead blinked for a second before a slow smile settled on his lips. He clasped Kuroko’s shaking hand in a handshake and the former phantom member clung onto it like a lifeline, holding Akashi’s hand longer than what was normal for a mere congratulatory gesture. His hand was warm and his touch felt pleasant in a way that couldn’t be explained yet.

“Let’s play again,” the blue-haired boy insisted. It was a roundabout way of confirming if he could ever see Akashi, _this_ Akashi, again. He couldn’t be at peace without knowing that the Akashi from the past would stay for good with them, with the Generation of Miracles – with Kuroko.

He felt confused by his thoughts for the second time that day, wondering when Akashi’s existence had become so important.

“Again, and again. As many times as you want.”

Akashi smiled warmly in return and there it was again, an inexplicable prick in his chest so sweet yet painful at the same time and it made Kuroko want to cry for reasons unrelated to the match. His face contorted into an awkward smile of his own with these weird emotions and his throat felt impossibly heavy, and all of a sudden everything that wasn’t Akashi zoomed out of his perspective into a blur, leaving just him and the redhead in a separate world of their own.

It was as though time had frozen again for just a second. For just one moment Kuroko forgot about everything else. For just one moment the only thing that mattered was the redhead standing before him, his red eyes boring into the shorter one with a look that sent his mind reeling into an even more confusing mess.

It was just the two of them now, still holding onto each other’s hand, still smiling at each other and the moment was special, almost poignant with the realization that perhaps this was perhaps what Kuroko had ultimately wanted – to look Akashi Seijūrō in the eye without reserve, without resentment – and he couldn’t help but wonder if this moment felt just as precious to the other boy as well.

Their momentary reprieve from the world ended as soon as it began when the taller player released his hand to go line up with his team, leaving the blue-haired boy in a state of bemusement once more.

There was that painfully sweet clenching in his chest again and Kuroko wondered if he should cut back on the vanilla milkshakes.

His teammates lined up next to him, the certitude of their victory over Rakuzan High finally settling into everyone and yet all he could think about was the person facing him, who roused more emotions in him than he would have liked. He knew that the feeling of lead in his mouth and the sharp sting behind his eyes and the burning sensation in his nose and the light-headedness wasn’t related to basketball at all.

He also knew that, for some inexplicable reason, he had this impassable urge to reach out for that hand again.

 

* * *

 

 

 **Author’s Note:**  

So this drabble’s supposed to be a prequel of sorts (hence the title; referring to Kurokocchi’s romantic feelings finally awakening) to another drabble, which will have actual fluff… maybe 8D

Until then~ヽ(´･ω･`)､

**Author's Note:**

> I tagged it as OOC because I don't think anything other than the Winter Cup victory would be going through sweet Kurokochhi's mind right now even if he's in labbu labbu. Perhaps love just works in mysterious ways? 8'D


End file.
